A court in Rivne Oblast sentenced a woman who stole toys from a child's grave
The Radiviliv District Court sentenced a 45-year-old woman who stole 13 stuffed animals from a child’s grave in the Dubno District.
For desecrating a burial site, the defendant was sentenced to one year in prison.
The shameful incident occurred on February 24 in the village of Karpylivka. The defendant, a native of the Radiviliv community who has lived in the Ternopil region for the past six years, was walking past a local cemetery.
At one of the graves, she noticed stuffed animals that people had brought to the child’s funeral in late December 2025. The woman gathered all the items into a bag, then boarded a local bus and went home.
Alina Kotyk, the 30-year-old mother of the deceased boy, reported the disappearance of the items to law enforcement. Prior to this, she had posted an emotional message on Facebook that caused an uproar online.
She called for the perpetrators who desecrated her son’s memory to be found.
The child’s mother wrote in her post: “All the toys that people brought to my son’s funeral—as a memento, as a sign of love that will never diminish—were stolen from his grave. These aren’t just things. This is the pain of a parent’s heart. These are the belongings of a child who is no longer with us.”
Police quickly identified the suspect and conducted urgent investigative actions. During searches of her residence, law enforcement officers seized all the stolen items and returned them to the boy’s mother.
The woman publicly thanked the Radiviliv law enforcement officers on social media for their swift response.
This information came to light in the official court ruling dated June 11, which was published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
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